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Tiger Woods's U.K. Lawyer Leaves His Firm, Heads for the Hills

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Sometimes, helping your client avoid media scrutiny has consequences, even in England. The Lawyer reports that the lawyer who helped keep naked, sexy pictures of Tiger Woods out of the U.K. press has mysteriously left his firm:

Schillings partner Simon Smith has left the media boutique weeks after winning a controversial injunction on behalf of golfer Tiger Woods. …
In December, he sparked a media uproar when he won a court injunction from the UK courts on behalf of Tiger Woods banning any publication of “naked or any naked parts of [his] body or of him in any sexual activity” in the British press.
The move, critics said, further restricted freedom of the press and once again showed London to be a centre for so-called libel tourism.
Smith left the firm on 31 December but is yet to take up a position at another firm.

Is it possible for a lawyer to get pushed out of a firm for successfully representing a major client?
More information after the jump.


Schillings says Smith just decided that it was time to leave:

According to Schillings’ business director Christopher Mills: “He’s now in Scotland.”
Mills added: “There were no problems. It was just that after 14 years with the firm he decided to move on to some new challenges.
“I’m not sure at this stage what his plans are, but it’s possible that he’ll be doing some work on his own.”

He’s in Scotland? What the hell does that mean? Can you imagine if Bill Urquhart, after the CHECK YOU EMAILS uproar, suddenly left Quinn Emanuel and when asked John Quinn said: “he’s in Montana.”
While we don’t know how Simon Smith is keeping himself, we do hope he retains his impressive list of celebrity clients:

Smith, a former Schillings managing partner, counts Hollywood actress Keira Knightley and footballer Cristiano Ronaldo among his A-list clients.

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Hey, if you ever need to forum shop a libel suit, maybe you should give Smith a call. Just pick up the Scottish white pages and look him up. How many people named “Smith” can really be living in Scotland anyway?
Tiger Woods’ UK lawyer quits Schillings [The Lawyer]

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